DU students block Shahbag for shift in city polls date

Hundreds of students of Dhaka University (DU) staged their continuous demonstration on Wednesday demanding rescheduling of the election to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) due to the Saraswati Puja that falls on the election day on January 30.

Students on Wednesday blocked the Shahbag intersection again as their scheduled march towards the Election Commission (EC) office at Agargaon was foiled by the cops.

Earlier in the morning on the day the DU students gathered in front of the Raju Sculpture on the campus with placards in hands and chanted slogans voicing their demand.

Later, the protesting students began a march towards the EC office and the march was stopped and foiled by the cops at Shahbag.

Then the students blocked the Shahbagh intersection and continued their demonstration to press home their demand for rescheduling the upcoming DNCC, DSCC Jan 30 elections.

Utpal Biswas, vice president of Jagannath Hall Union and also general secretary of Chhatra League's hall unit, said from the protest field, "We always celebrate Swaraswati Puja in a non-communal manner with those who belong to other religions. Every student is in favour of rescheduling the polls."

Earlier on Tuesday, also they blocked the Shahbag intersection in the afternoon for some hours for the same demand after the High Court rejected a writ petition filed for shifting the date of the two Dhaka city corporations' elections.

Earlier, Bangladesh Chhatra Oikya Parishad, a platform of students of different religions, and another group under the banner of 'Conscious Students-Teachers' of DU, placed the same demand on Sunday and Monday respectively.

During the protest at Shahbag, police held a man with a firearm after he was beaten up by DU students.

According to the eye-witness, one man was driving a black car and for the protest, he came out from the car and demanded allowing his car to pass through. When the students refused, he pulled out a firearm (pistol) and aimed it at the students. Then agitating students started beating him and handed him over to police.

The man, Alif Rusdi Hasan Moon, 36, was taken to the Shahbagh police station along with his wife and sister-in-law who got off from the car to rescue him.

Officer in charge (OC) of Shahbagh police station Abul Hasan said, "After hearing about the incident, we went there and rescued him from the protesters and took him to Shahbag Thana. The man told us that he was involved in the manpower business and the recovered pistol was licensed."

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